INTERVIEW #1
Being the Interviewer
As my other group members were being interviewed and interviewing, I thought that I would know what kind of questions to ask and that the interviewing time would just fly by. Well it did not. It was the longest four or so minutes and questions were pretty hard to come up with when we had no restraints as what to ask. Once we were done interviewing, we came back to the Cinematography room and had to edit our interviews. This part was fairly easy. I just had to cut out me asking the questions and then had to choose which pieces of my four minute interview to select. Getting B-roll was just a matter of me deciding what and when to put something on top of the A-roll. At first I chose pictures off of the internet but then I did not like the way it was just still because it was boring and did not really move. So, I found some videos on YouTube of the same pictures and places to put directly where the pictures used to be. I liked this a lot more because it added movement to the video. Interviews can be boring sometimes because without boundaries as what to ask, the video could not turn out too well. I think for a first official try, I did a good job. I would love to try it again too!
Behind the Camera
Being behind the camera was fairly easy. I had to make sure that the camera was in focus and that the mic was on. I made sure that the lights looked good on the person being interviewed. I got to watch the process happen and it was really fun and interesting! This was the first interview that I did and I hope that it turned out good for the rest of my group.
Being interviewed
While I was being interviewed it was kind of nerve-wracking. I had to think on the spot and it was difficult to come up with answers that would make a good interview. I had to not look in the camera and always be paying attention to what my interviewer was asking me instead of what was happening outside of the interview.
Documentary Review
Blackfish
Trailer
Synopsis of the documentary: Blackfish was about the story of Tilikum, a captive killer whale that has taken the lives of several people, underscores problems within the sea-park industry, man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals. The film showed the abuse that all animals at sea-parks get but especially orca whales. The film included the interviews of formal sea-world trainers and all of the mistakes that happened when they were working and spouses of people who had died or gotten injured due to the orca whales at sea world. One of the main points that were said during the documentary was that orca whales have only killed people in captivity, not in the wild. The film showed how the animals are constantly mistreated because they do not follow the instructor's rules or do not cooperate in a show. Another main point that was made in the documentary is that Tilikum, the orca whale with the highest killing streak, wasn’t killing people because he wanted to or because he needed to, but because he was annoyed and confused with his life situation.
Specifics of the Documentary: The aspect that I liked about the documentary was that it was plain out honest. It did not show the soft side of the abuse that the orca whales were and still are receiving. It showed scars and blood on the whales because of how trainers treat them and how the other whales treat them. This documentary was also very informational in the way that they explained that the whales are brought from different families and therefore are less likely to get along and injure the other whales in close captivity. The acting was very honest too. Lots of people were crying and were expressing very serious emotions because what they were talking about was very severe. The music or background sounds consisted of sentimental music and news stories that were being aired when all of the whale incidents were happening. The documentary consisted of lots of B-roll over the interviews so that the film was more entertaining and kept the watcher interested in such a serious subject. The lighting for the interviews was very natural but still showed the glistening of tears dripping down peoples faces due to the intensity of their personal stories.
Recommend the documentary: I would one-hundred percent recommend this documentary. It showed what really happens when sea-parks like Sea-World close down for the day and what happens to the animals. It gave true and honest opinions and stories from people’s experiences and that can sometimes speak deeper than factual evidence. This documentary changed my view of Sea-world. I used to always want to go there as a kid to see all of the animals work so nicely with the trainers and how easy and fun it looked to be able to train the animals. After watching this documentary, I never want to go to Sea-world because that would be me supporting the abuse of these animals or any animals at all. The documentary changed my point of view on the industry of ‘animal circuses’.
INTERVIEW #2
Being the Interviewer
While interviewing Alex during for my second official interview I think I did a bit better for asking questions. I believe that I got the flow of the questions that I needed to ask to get a good story line. It was interesting because I would normally not hang out with the people that I am grouped with but I learned many new things about my two group members. One thing that happened during this interview was the camera slowly panning upward. I don't know how this happened but yet I had to learn to work around it. It was a good second practice for an interview but I would never show this one as a submission to a contest or something along those lines. I ended up adding lots of B-roll to this interview so that it would not be as noticeable but even still I notice it. I think besides the camera angles I did a good job at making an interview out of a bad situation.
Behind the Camera
Being behind the camera was fairly simple, again. I got to learn a lot about Angie and where she came from even though I wasn't asking any of the questions. One camera technique I learned was that to make sure the camera was 100% in focus you can press the magnifying button on the camera, focus on the person you are filming, and check the zoom to make sure it looks really good. Next time I am behind the camera I would like to try and figure out how to make it more focused on the person and blurry in the background.
Being interviewed
When I was being interviewed it wasn't as scary as the first time. I kind of expected the questions that would be coming my way like what my name was, how old I was, what grade I'm in, where do I go to school, etc. I tried to stay smiling during my interview so that it was enjoyable for the viewers to see a happy person on camera! I did not look in the camera nor in the light which was very good because I don't want to ruin the shot or blind myself. Being interviewed this time was very enjoyable to do again!